I wrote a blog post a while back on eBook pricing and was surprised that a few readers took my statement “The typical KU reader (I am convinced) will not like the KITC series or the WB series. These books aren’t the droids they’re looking for” as a negative.
One reader (the lovely Sandy) on Goodreads stated, “What I don’t like is the attitude I’ve observed toward KU readers by default.”
I am confused by this and other statements assuming I was being negative about KU / KU readers. In no way shape or form was my post meant to be negative about KU. In fact, as I stated, I put the Rugby Series and the Elements of Chemistry series in KU from time to time (and they do great). None of my business decisions are based on feelings, they are all based on data.
See, I track data and trends. Here are some of the reasons the ‘Knitting in the City’ series and ‘The Winston Brothers’ series will not do well with the typical KU reader (based on data, not based on feelings).
REASON 1
The WB and KITC series books are very long. They’re typically close to 120k words. KU books (that do well) tend to be much shorter (60-90k words).
Both EOC and the Rugby series are shorter/fit into the 60-90k words category.
REASON 2
The covers for WB and KITC are weird. I know this because I designed/made them myself. KU titles that do well do not have weird covers. They have more traditional looking covers. (So, not women with mustaches or bearded cross-stitch).
Both EOC and the Rugby series have traditional looking covers; I know because I designed and made them that way.
REASON 3
Both “New Adult” and “Sports Romance” do really well in KU. 90% of the top 100 books in “Romantic Comedy” category are not “classical” romantic comedies (like WB or KITC). They are new adult, sports romance, billionaire books, step brother books, etc. and they are also enrolled in KU.
There are other reasons/factors, but I’d prefer not to share them. I’ve been tracking and mining data for 18months on KU. I gather information regarding rankings, rating, cover design, categories, etc. and analyze monthly. I spend time doing this to help me make business decisions. I hope you can understand that I wouldn’t want to make all this time/effort/knowledge public. <3
For better or for worse, data has shown that the typical contemporary romance KU user (not all, just the typical) enjoys short books, new adult, sports romance, billionaire, and step brother romance with traditional covers. <— DATA TELLS ME THIS! DATA!!!! You can’t argue with data.
My decisions are based on quantitative data, not on feelings about readers in KU. I love readers in KU. In fact, I LOVE ALL READERS!!! I’d have to be an idiot to dislike readers, since I sell books . . . to readers . . . O.o
As I stated above, none of my business decisions are based on feelings. But all of my writing decisions are based on feelings. So I guess it evens out. 🙂
I hope this helps. Best, Penny
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
I love you. I respect you. I’m a KU reader (I keep cancelling and then signing up again a few months later) and while I wasn’t even a little offended, I do appreciate the info you chose to share. Can’t wait for Jethro!
You are awesome <3
I like all those kinds of books. The reason I don’t do KU is because I prefer to own the books. It’s not about the genre, length or anything else for me. If I like the author, I want the books to be mine.
I agree.
Sometimes I’ll borrow a book in KU and then turn around and buy it after I finish. <3
agree x10000000
I am a hoarder. I do not like to give back the book, must own, and pet…my precious….
Okay, can’t really pet an ebook, but if I love an ebook, I own it and also buy the physical book, if my husband isn’t looking and we have funds.
I wonder though how much of the data is influenced by what is actually being put up on KU….? Like I’m a KU reader and I love long books, short books, YA books, NA books, and every kind of romance genre there is. But like you mentioned, most of the KU books I’ve read aren’t like your WB series or The Knitting one, but I feel like that’s because KU is flooded with other types of books and awesome books like Truth or Beard aren’t available as much or don’t come up when searching through the KU romance books. I am so tired of even seeing the words Stepbrother, Bad Boy, Millionaire/Billionaire when searching for a good KU book to read. I use KU to read most of the books I read each month because if I didn’t I’d be spending hundreds of dollars each month on books and I just can’t financially afford to not use KU. (I read on average about 20-30 books a month. And it is extremely hard to avoid books with those above words since so many of them are on KU.) I absolutely loved Truth or Beard and if it were on KU I would have probably bought it after reading. And I can honestly say that since I used my 1 audible credit to purchase it, then knew I wanted the e-book version and bought it after listening to the whole book. And I convinced a good friend to buy the ebook too. I don’t know. I totally understand you do a lot of research and there is data to back up what you’re saying, I just wonder how much of the data showing KU people want short, erotic, bad boy, stepbrother stories is due to the fact that those are the majority of the KU romance books that keep getting put on their, and not because that’s really what they want. Anyway, just random thoughts I’m having right now. Thanks for writing such an amazing book with Truth or Beard. I pre-ordered Grin and Beard It.
Hey Jennifer,
I, also, am a KU subscriber. If I didn’t have KU, I would be seriously in trouble!! I read too many books to afford them otherwise. So, I feel you there. <3
I understand your perspective re: being a KU user who loves short books, long books, all books, etc. And I do believe KU users exist who love and will read all kinds of books. That stated, the data tells me (unequivocally): Books that are most successful on KU are not books like the Knitting in the City Series or the Winston Brothers Series. As such, I can't justify removing KITC or WB from iBooks, nook, or Kobo in order to put them on KU.
I can also speak to your question: " just wonder how much of the data showing KU people want short, erotic, bad boy, stepbrother stories is due to the fact that those are the majority of the KU romance books that keep getting put on there, and not because that’s really what they want." <--- I'm only interested in successful KU books (what books are successful in the KU program). If KU readers really, really wanted books like KITC or WB, then those books would be near the top 100. They are not. Yes, most of the KU books are sports, bad boy, billionaire, step brother (but so are most romance novels). This is because sports, bad boy, billionaire, step brother sell really well (in KU or out of it). Other books (like my books) do not. And that's TOTALLY OKAY! I write books I love. I write for a very small market. My books will never be huge sellers. I am 100% great with this fact. However, since I write for such a small market, putting KITC or WB in KU would make writing books impossible because it would no longer be financially feasible. I hope this helps! Best, Penny
Penny,
There is a double bias in the system.
1) The way Amazon’s top 100 lists are made include KU in paid books. However, technically it is a free book to most KU readers.
2) Top 100 KU books are the best books available in a pretty poor selection. Given that most KU readers are voracious, they are willing to compromise quality and size to feed their reading addiction.
As a result of this, you are seeing the trends you are.
For e.g., Most established authors in romance except for Nora Roberts now do not show up in best seller lists for more than a week or so due to the fact that KU is taking over the paid categories. While your analysis is correct and the conclusions are also correct, I think the underlying cause is the way the lists are being made and poor quality of KU books rather than books like yours not doing well in the KU program. Either way, i am a buyer so i am reading your stuff regardless.